The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Internal combustion engine systems include an engine that combusts a fuel and air mixture within cylinders to generate drive torque. More specifically, air is drawn into the engine through an intake and is distributed to the cylinders. The air is mixed with fuel and the air and fuel mixture is combusted. Some engines are so-called direct injection type engines, which include a fuel system that injects fuel directly into the cylinders. That is to say that the air is drawn into the cylinder and is mixed with fuel inside the cylinder itself. The fuel system typically includes a fuel rail that provides fuel to individual fuel injectors associated with the cylinders.
In some instances, the fuel system may not function properly due to damage, component wear, clogging and the like. One example of this is when a flow problem is suspected with an individual or multiple fuel injectors of the fuel system. Diagnostic systems have been developed to identify the source of an improperly functioning fuel system. Such traditional diagnostic systems are not adaptable to direct injection fuel systems due to differences in system design. Without a method to test the system, the technician can not readily pinpoint the problem to a particular component. In the case of fuel injectors, for example, a maintenance technician may replace an entire set of fuel injectors when a problem may only exist with a single fuel injector.